Take the Liberal Hollywood Writers — Please!
Negotiations between Hollywood writers and their employers have been at a standstill for several weeks. The writers’ 
strike won’t affect most prime-time programs for some time since studios have enough material in the hopper to get them through the season. The strike has, however, affected daily shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman. It should be noted that Late Night with Conan O’Brien is one of the few programs paying its support staff while the Writers’ Guild haggles over their right to first class airfare. (See Jennsylvania.com for a succinct viewpoint from a working-class writer.)
The strike has led the programs of media darlings Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to rely on reruns. Given that they have cable shows with mediocre ratings by prime-time standards, it’s peculiar that they would be mentioned in nearly every article about the writers’ strike. The fact that they use writers should come as a shock to many people since we have to endure the mainstream media’s multiple orgasms over the brilliance of Stewart and Colbert. Perhaps the real writers are on to something. If I were one of them, I would strike, too.
Click here to read my latest column.